


The Dangerous Epilogue

by CaspianOfTheDead



Series: Hooded Apprentice [2]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: But here it is, Multi, This is DUMB
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2019-11-18 19:05:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18125252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaspianOfTheDead/pseuds/CaspianOfTheDead
Summary: Ah, here, have some low quality closure. I love you.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay i apologise for this folks i just... i can't explain it it's like... just another chapter of the fic idk

The morning of the masquerade was hectic at the shop. There were so many people scrambling for herbs and potions, last minute readings and good luck charms. Not to mention Asra and Julian had been playing cat and mouse for a few days and Julian was starting to let Asra catch him. It seemed like every time you turned around Asra had him pressed up against a wall, or a counter, or was leaning over him when he sat down, hissing something in his ear that made him red. 

 

You weren’t jealous… They did this, every now and again. Focused on one another and forgot you were in the room. It happened. You were sure there were times the others felt a little left out. It wasn’t anything to worry too much about.

 

You closed the shop down a little early, and the three of you got dressed for the night. Julian had to be at the palace in case something happened, and you and Asra had told him that you’d come along so he wouldn’t be alone.

 

So you made your way up to the palace in your formal attire, Asra looking ethereal in his silk gown, Julian dashing as always, buttoned up in a suit the tailor had declared his pride and joy. You smiled at them and grasped Asra’s hand as he caught Julian’s. You walked along like that, bothering Julian about his job at the palace, and how you’d embarrass him at work. He just laughed it off, pressing a kiss to Asra’s temple and winking at you. Soon, though, some mushrooms caught your eye, and you let go to pick them, throwing them into a spare jar in your bag (that you had insisted on bringing)  waving the other two off as Asra huffed that you’d make Julian late. 

 

“Well, these are only good for harvest for a day or two, and I don’t come this way often. You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up,” You reached into your bag and extracted their masks, handing them over and winking cheekily at them. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Asra. I’d know you from a crowd anywhere. Really, go on ahead, I’ll find you,”

 

Asra hesitated, but Julian shifted nervously. He really couldn’t be late. They sighed and carried on, shooting lingering glances over their shoulders at you as you pulled the mushrooms from the tree stumps and tucked them into the jar for safekeeping. Once you’d gathered enough, you followed, but the others were already out of sight.

 

You didn’t rush. You took your time, ruffling your hair with your dirty hand and sighing. The moon was hanging lower than usual, it seemed, and as you drew closer to the palace you fastened your mask over your face and pulled your hood back up. The mask had taken you a full night with lace and paint to get it just right, but at the end of it, you had the best mask you could have asked for. Silver lace butterfly wings that stretched over your eyes, easy enough for you to see through, but obscuring your eyes and most of your face from view. The tips of the wings pushed your hood back, but you didn’t need the hood so much when you were wearing a mask. The butterfly’s body curved along your nose, and jutted out ever so slightly. 

 

You were impossible to recognise as you slipped through the crowd. You spotted regulars of yours who peered curiously at you, but there wasn’t a hint of recognition in their eyes as they traced your figure. You smiled to yourself. How many people in Vesuvia wore hoods on special occasions? You certainly couldn’t see any. It must have been the lack of context. 

 

You peered into the rooms as you passed them, trying to spot either Asra or Julian. You couldn’t find them anywhere. You relaxed a little, brushing aside the anxiety in your stomach. They must have snuck away to some little corner to fool around like teenagers. You smiled at the thought, and how adorable they both were.

 

Still… you were at a masquerade by yourself as a result of it. You found the ballroom (because it was crowded and there was music playing that you could zone out to) and tucked yourself into a corner, watching wealthy people mill about. At one point you saw a mass of long, tyrian hair, and focused on Nadia. 

 

She was leaning over Portia’s shoulder, whispering something into her ear that was making Portia blush. You smiled. They looked happy. 

 

You kept looking around the room, and you saw a thin, white dog slinking along, something in its mouth. Melichoir. You ducked out after him, figuring from the way he was walking he had something he shouldn’t. 

 

After a few seconds, he noticed you. For the first time since you entered the palace, someone recognised you through your mask. Albeit, it was a dog with an avocado in its mouth, but he wagged his tail happily when he set eyes on you.

 

“Melichoir, give me that, you can’t eat it, it’ll hurt you,” You said, holding your hand out. Melichoir seemed to grin around the thing, then he bolted.

 

“Hey!” you snapped. “Come back here!” You sprinted after him, and soon, Mercedes joined in the game, running along side Melichoir. They lead you out onto the nearest veranda, where Melichoir dropped the Avocado, turned, and made that grinning face at you again, before he and Mercedes leapt over the railing and chased each other into the hedge maze. You walked forward, stooping to pick up the abandoned avocado, but you paused. You could hear it, hissing whispers. You straightened up, leaning forward to peer out around the corner. 

 

Your heart almost stopped in your chest. There was Lucio, with a tall, stunning man leaning into him, hissing into his ear as the count swirled some white wine in his glass. He looked bored, even as the man’s hand came to brush over the exposed skin of his chest. You froze. You should turn around. This was a private moment. You shouldn’t even be out on the veranda in the first place-

 

“Maybe later, Gylbard,” Lucio snapped, waving his clawed hand through the air dismissively. The man scowled and straightened up, and when he did, you frowned. The way his fingers curled, the chains tangled at his throat, a spark in his eye.

 

He was a magician. A magician whose hair was the same colour as yours, and there was something in his walk… You tilted your head. He looked almost… similar to you. You wondered if you were distantly related. Gylbard, however, didn’t spot you. He simply breezed away, fixing his mask back over his face and huffing a little as he did. Lucio drained his glass and then dropped it into the bushes, clicking his tongue in a dissatisfied way. You made to draw back, but the cloth of your shirt caught the nearest window ledge and tore with a pop of the seam, and you swore under your breath. Lucio stiffened. 

 

“Who’s there?” He barked, his voice authoritative and haughty in a way he’d only used on you at the beginning. You stumbled back, turning around, trying to make it back to the door you’d followed the dogs through when…

 

“... By the gods… is… is that you? No…” 

 

You froze. The click of expensive shoes drew closer, sending electric currents up your spine. You stiffened and cleared your throat. “My apologies, your highness, I did not mean to intrude,” You hissed through a half hearted attempt to disguise you voice. The clicking stopped.

 

“One more trick, huh? Do you know what it was like to wake up to find you were gone?”

 

You swallowed, still affecting the same accent, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Your Highness,”

 

“I told you to call me Lucio,” The count breathed. You swallowed. It was too late to try to play it off like you were someone else, you supposed. So you did the first thing you could think of. You vaulted over the railing and sprinted into the maze where the dogs had disappeared, whipping the trap avocado into the yard as you did. Damn dogs, they plotted better than every courtier in the palace.

 

“You can’t hide from me in my own maze, Trickster!” Lucio called, already at the mazes entrance. You swallowed. 

 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about!” You called, in your real voice now. Lucio laughed. 

 

“You know that I’m the greatest hunter in Vesuvia, right? I could track you across the damn nation. I just want a word, Trickster. Don’t you want to talk? Weave more pretty lies?”

 

You came to a fork, and hesitated for a moment. You stared in one direction, then the other. You heard dogs bark.  _ Fuck _ . 

 

“Go get ‘em,” You heard him hiss, and you sprinted down the left path. You turned, and turned, and turned again, your breaths growing short in your lungs, burning your throat as you took them.

 

You stopped. You were in a little circular clearing. The center of the maze. The middle. You heard the thundering footsteps of the dogs as they burst through the bushes, and they began howling, running in a tight circle around you, stopping you from going anywhere. You froze, waiting. 

 

He shot through, clawed hand swiping the bushes as he turned the corner, and ran into the clearing. He stopped, face splitting into a grin and his eyes sparkling as they traced your frame. “I knew it!” He crowed, looking far too proud of himself. You hissed and turned on your heel, facing away from him. 

 

Like his dogs, he began to prowl. He paced around the edge of the clearing, playing the game, making adrenaline curl up in your chest. You felt like prey, something chased. You supposed that you were, in a way. 

 

“So… guess you caught me…” You hissed, glancing at him as he walked into view, snapping his fingers and pointing at the clearings exit. The dogs slunk out happily, looking proud of themselves. You eyed him. “You recognised me. Maybe I needed a bigger mask,”

 

“You could wear any mask under the sun. I’d still see you,” Lucio growled. “You came back,”

 

“It is a party. Open to all Vesuvians. I am still a citizen, even after…”

 

“Oh, as though you have a taste for parties. I know you. You prefer broom closets, if I remember correctly,”

 

“I think, if  _ my _ memory serves, you were the one who picked the location of that… meetup,”

 

Lucio’s grin was sharp. His eyes were bright. Cheeks still flushed from the chase. You had forgotten how much he had loved the struggle. The fight of it. You wondered if he could tell which way you were looking behind the lace. 

 

“I suppose that’s true,”

 

“Oh, you  _ suppose _ you were the one who pulled me into a closet and pinned me to the wall,” You laughed, shaking your head, “Lucio, you-”

 

And, true to form, his name was what did it. At the sound, he was on you, his hands catching you, pulling you in. He swept you up in his arms, pulling you into his chest and staggering forward, burying his face into your hood, knocking your mask crooked as he did. 

 

“Fuck,” He hissed, rough and wanting, “Fuck, gods, I… It really,  _ really _ is you,” 

 

You didn’t reply. You just let him hold you. Your hands coming to rest on his sides. 

 

“I think of you… every day. Tell me you think of me. Tell me…”

 

“I think of you,” you whispered, “I do, but this isn’t… I can’t. I’m… I’m with someone now,”

 

“I’m married,” Lucio hissed. “Didn’t stop me from fucking you breathless before,”

 

You sighed, pulling back and drawing your hood down over your face further. “Lucio…”

 

At that he was back on you, pushing you backward, and you tripped, dragging him down with you as you sprawled in the dirt. He landed over you, pinning you down, his claw pushing your hood off, then reaching for your mask.

 

“I like this,” He whispered, taking it, uncharacteristically gentle. “It’s nice, I think I was wrong. I like the way you look in gold, but… silver is your colour,” He pulled it off, slowly, and you let him, shifting your head so that the tie pulled free of your hair. You swallowed, you eyes fixed on his mouth as he pulled in a breath. “But this… this is better. You. Your face,”

 

You tilted your head. “You said you wanted to talk?”

 

“I lied,” Lucio said, bringing his face closer to yours, “I’m not nearly as good as you are at it. I don’t want to talk to you. Not even a little. I don’t want to talk, I just want you. I want you back. I’ve spent months trying, struggling, working my ass off to be the kind of man that you could love. Chasing the shadows of you around my room, looking for the herbs that you smelled like. Do you know how many gods-damned lemongrass vessels I’ve bought? How much ice wine I’ve swallowed? I’ve lost count of how many court magicians I’ve hired and fired. I’ve been looking. There’s no one like you. Not a soul,”

 

“There’s plenty like me,”

 

“Liar,” He whispered. He hesitated, and you met his eyes. Like a lightning bolt, they struck you. “... tell me something true…” He whispered, hovering over you. “Be honest with me,”

 

You bit your lip. You fidgeted. “You know that I don’t do that very well,”

 

“Try, Trickster, just once,”

 

“I use the athame you bought me,” You breathed. His eyes lit up, and he laughed. 

 

“I would hope so, I commissioned it specially. Cost more than any dagger I’ve had made for myself,”

 

You grinned. “Well it works very well as a letter opener as well as an energy conductor,”

 

“That’s what you use it for?”

 

You laughed. “And I did… notice that you’ve been… changing the way things are run. The people are… happier,”

 

“I don’t give a damn about the peasants,” He sneered. His face slackened again. “I just care about you,”

 

“Well, thank you,” You said, rolling your eyes and shifting in the dirt. He smiled sadly.

 

“Can I kiss you?”

 

You hesitated. You thought of Julian. Of Asra. “No,” You sighed. “No, I think we need to leave… leave this behind. Don’t you?”

 

“I don’t want to,” Lucio hissed, his hands encircling your waist. “I want to be selfish. I want… Do you know… How could I ever…” He growled, low in his throat. “I think about how I could have been the bad guy. How evil I could have been. I could have… chained you to the bedpost and made you read to me. Locked you up, kept you away, sent guards after you, claimed you indebted to me, come back to your shop… made you stay with me. I could have! And I would have had you. I would have had you…”

 

You sat up, forcing yourself to smirk. “But you wouldn’t have, would you?” You whispered. “You wouldn’t have had me any more than you do now. You don’t want a body and a voice chained to your bedpost. I know you. You want something else, don’t you?”

 

He leaned back, letting you straighten up and draw level with him as he knelt in the dirt. He had that look back on his face. That look like a child staring at a lightshow. Entranced. Caught.  _ Dazed. _

 

“Don’t you?” You whispered again. You felt his cold, metal hand tuck down into your shirt, brushing against your skin, settling against your ribs, against your heartbeat. 

 

“I want this,” He said, an edge in his voice, desperate, a return of the man who had pinned you to his vanity and made you face yourself. “I want your heart and soul, Trickster,”

 

You smiled again, and caught his wrist. You pulled his hand slowly from you. The fabric of your shirt settling back into place. 

 

“We don’t always get what we want,”

 

“No,” Lucio hissed, “We don’t,” He leaned in, catching your jaw, looking straight into your eyes, pinning you there with the strange power he held over you. “Please let me kiss you. Just this once. Just one last time,”

 

“We said last time was the last time,”

 

“One more last time, little liar of mine,”

 

You leaned forward, pushing through his grip, and clasped his face roughly in one hand, turning him, and pressing your lips into his cheek. He shuddered, like you’d taken hold of something deep inside of him, like you had hit all of his spots like piano keys, like you were made from electricity and he was tempered steel. You smiled against his skin and pulled back.

 

“Just a little liar, I’m afraid,” You whispered, “You only ever did borrow me, Lucio,”

 

“I could have made you happy,” He whispered, “I could have… I could have been a good man for you,”

 

“I know, Lucio,” You said, getting to your feet, quick fingers catching the ribbon of your mask as you got up. His hands stayed in place as you rose from them, trailing over your sides, down your hips, coming to rest on your thighs as you stood in front of him. He was looking up at you, his eyes despairing. 

 

“If I beg… If I plead… If I offer you your own palace, all the riches you can picture, all the ice wine and athames you could ever need or want… would it make a difference?”

 

“No,”

 

Lucio’s mouth twitched up into a smile, and his hands tightened on your thighs. “And that’s why I want to do it so damn bad,”

 

You smiled back, and then stepped from his grip, walking past him and back the way you came in. You looked over your shoulder and tilted your head as he stood, dusting himself off and smoothing his hair back. You fastened your mask back into place and pulled your hood back on. 

 

“... You know, if I was single, you would have had me tonight. Not forever, but you know I can’t say no to you for my own sake. Now _ there’s _ something honest for you to play with,”

 

Lucio let out a bitter laugh. “Your lover isn’t vulnerable to bribery, are they?”

 

“No,” You said, crossing your arms and grinning, “Neither of them are,”

 

Lucio straightened up, looking both surprised and entertained, and you ducked out of sight with an almost silent laugh. You found your way through the maze, coming out near a beautiful fountain. When you set eyes on it, you saw them. 

 

Asra had Julian laid out flat on his back, and they were kissing, masks abandoned to the side. You grinned, leaning against a nearby tree and watching them. You shifted, a twig snapping underfoot, and they both started, looking up and over at you. 

 

“Wha-” Julian whined, a foggy expression on his face. Asra grinned. 

 

“You guys have been hiding here this whole time?” You teased, pulling your hood off and walking over, pushing willow branches aside and standing over the pair of them. Asra’s eyes twinkled mischievously. 

 

“The word hiding implies that we didn’t want to be found,” He laughed, wiggling his eyebrows. You stooped down and caught his chin, smirking. 

 

“What, were you hoping someone would stumble across you here misbehaving?”

 

Julian whimpered, his knees snapping together. “No!” He hissed, “Just you…”

 

You laughed, smiling down at him. “Oh, the pair of you just wait till I get you home…”

 

Asra’s face split into his usual grin. “Why wait?” He teased, before yanking you down into his lap and laying you across Julian, who sat up and immediately got to work putting hickeys on your neck. 

 

You smiled, one hand coming up to tangle in Julian’s hair, the other coming to cup Asra’s cheek. “Good point,” You said, pulling him in, “Maybe I won’t,”

 

Julian, however, stiffened, pulling away from you with a pop and gasping. Both you and Asra turned to him, surprised. He stared at you, looking distraught. “We haven’t danced on any tables yet!”

 

Asra burst out laughing, and you threw your hands up. “Julian! I thought there was a problem!”

 

“That is a problem! It’s a Nevivion tradition!”

 

Asra tilted his head, grinning. “Well! Can’t neglect a tradition, can we?” He pulled you up and stood, offering his hand to Julian. “First, tables. Then our lovely apprentice can show us what they have in mind,” He cooed. Julian took his hand and grinned.

 

“Sounds like a plan to me,”


	2. Alt. Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested alternative ending!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boop I managed to get it done eventually

Asra and Julian had known each other for a long time. Apparently they had been together before, they had dated for years, but something or other had happened and they had wound up going their separate ways. 

 

It seemed that they only needed a catalyst for their relationship to rekindle, more passionate than ever. You tried hard not to be jealous, but… It became clear, over the course of the months, that you were extraneous. That they were absorbed in one another more than they ever could be with you. It was fine. It didn’t hurt. You were fine being an afterthought. You were okay being on the edge of the bed.

 

_ You weren’t jealous. _

 

You really had become a liar after all.

 

Within three months you sat them down and asked them if they would rather their relationship be exclusive. They seemed reluctant, but after you pointed out their habits, their affections, their love for one another in comparison to their regard for you, they agreed that it was unfair to keep you in a relationship that they obviously didn’t need you in. 

 

You became a roommate again, and watched the people you loved love one another. Your heart ached. You poured yourself into your studies. You spent as much time as possible in the market, performing tricks for the orphans there. You roared like a lion and filled the town square with bubbles, you balanced on the tips of your fingers and breathed fire. You summoned swarms and swarms of butterflies. 

 

You made a bed in the lower level of the shop, in the back, despite their protests. You didn’t like to be in their way. 

 

Before you could even comprehend it, the masquerade was upon the city. The day of, a person entered your shop while Asra and Julian were in the kitchen, being suspiciously quiet. You turned and brushed your hair from your eyes.

 

“I apologise, My master isn’t available at the moment, can I help you with anything?”

 

“It was you who I was sent to collect,” 

 

You started. Sidus stood in the doorway, dressed in an expensive and crisp uniform of an upper servant, his hair carefully combed and a nervous smile on his face.

 

“Holy- Sidus! You got promoted?”

 

“I did! A lot has changed since you left, let me tell you- But there’s no time. Your highness would like you as entertainment for tonight’s ball at the palace,”

 

“Is his highness paying?”

 

Sidus laughed. “He is, and well,”

 

You grinned and looked over your shoulder, shouting out to the kitchen. “Asra! Ilya! I’m going out! See you later,”

 

“Uh-huh!” Asra called, sounding breathless, “Later!” 

 

You grabbed your bag and pulled your hood on, grasping your lace butterfly mask from the counter and grinning at it. “Let’s go cause some trouble,”

 

Sidus helped you into the carriage, and inside the carriage was a suit that was tailored perfectly for you. You giggled and drew the blinds down, changing quickly into it with Sidus’ help.

 

You toppled out of the carriage when it pulled up to the palace, and quickly righted yourself, tugging your jacket straight and clearing your throat. Sidus snickered, and you pulled a face at him over your shoulder that made him laugh outright. He led you inside and showed you to the room you would be performing in.

 

“You are under specific instructions not to exhaust yourself,” He added as he moved toward the door. “And you’re to eat directly before you perform. There will be food brought here,”

 

You nodded, smiling that someone had obviously been tasked with the prevention of your magical drain. You wondered if it was Julian’s doing. 

 

Food was brought in, much more than you could ever eat, and you ate your fill, before stretching and pacing around the room, trying to come up with small enough tricks to extend a show to last all night. You buttoned and unbuttoned your suit jacket, you played with your shirt collar and your cravat. 

 

Eventually Sidus came back into the room, looking rather hurried. “You’re prepared? You’ve eaten? Your performance will last one hour and you’ll be free to enjoy the masquerade after that, but you’re required to keep your capabilities afterward. Is there anything else you need?”

 

You gaped at him. “Just… just an hour? All this fuss for an hour long performance?”

 

Sidus smiled. “I’ll quote his highness on this one: ‘For the trickster? An hour is more than enough,’. You’ll do fine,”

 

You pursed your lips and nodded. “He’s not attending, then?”

 

Sidus shot you a knowing smile. You flushed and crossed your arms. “His highness is likely only going to be able to see part of your performance,” 

 

“I didn’t mean it like that! I was just- He always watched my performances before-“

 

Sidus flushed and cleared his throat, clapping his hands together. “Yes! Well… This is a different-“

 

“Sidus!” You snapped. Sidus smiled again. You marvelled at how much more comfortable he seemed when compared to how he’d behaved when you’d last stayed at the palace. You wondered if it had all been the promotion or if something else had happened. 

 

After a little more conversation, Sidus rushed off to attend to Lucio himself, and you were left to wait until the masquerade started. You heard the hurried footsteps of servants, their stress sharpened voices, and then the crack and sweep of doors opening. You turned, feet planted in the center of the room, and placed your hands on the ground. A stage rose from the ground of a dark wood, and you climbed up onto it. 

 

Eventually guests flooded the palace, and you sat cross legged on your stage. You waited. Music started, and you could hear people beginning to enjoy themselves. You frowned as you began to realise that your performance wouldn’t take place for a while. 

 

You unbuttoned your coat and you loosened your cravat, before you gasped and summoned your mask. You tied it on and summoned a top hat, placing it carefully atop your head with a smile. You wished you had a mirror, you probably looked hilarious, in your costume and mask. 

 

After a while the doors to your room swung open, and you leapt to your feet, flashing the crowd that had been gathering outside the door your best stage smile and forcing a vine to rise from under your feet, sprouting up from the stage, a leaf unfurling that you stepped onto, letting it carry you upward, toward the high vaulted ceiling. 

 

“Hello! Welcome! The performance will begin shortly, please, find your places! No need to argue! There’s room for everyone, I’m sure!” 

 

You grinned as the crowd rushed in, jostling one another for the best places, near your stage. You watched carefully for faces you recognised. Plenty of the courtiers were there, and foreign dignitaries pushing past them. Vesuvians pushed in as well, you thought you recognised a shopkeeper or two beneath their masks.

 

Once the room was full, people began to gather in the hall, straining to get a look over one another’s shoulders. You grinned. You never thought you could have missed performing when you had felt forced into it, but here, when you were more in command of your situation, and you had failed so miserably to keep attention where it had counted…

 

You had the attention of everyone, and it felt  _ fantastic. _

 

You shot toward the ceiling and with a little sticking spell on your hands and shoes, climbed up onto it. You straightened up, hanging upside down over the crowd’s heads. 

 

“Thank you all for coming!” You called, holding your arms out wide, then sweeping the hat off your head and bowing. Butterflies poured from the hat, swarms of them, and when they cleared, the crowd gasped. The ceiling was covered in vines and flowers the size of cart wheels, opening as they watched. You grinned and dropped from the ceiling, falling through the air as the people below screamed and gasped. Vines caught you, and you held your hands out in front of you. 

 

“I hope you like music,” You said, tilting your head and casting a simple spell. You rubbed your hands together, and the sound of a violin filled the room. You played a song, ankles crossed and hands easily seen, seated on a braid of vines as the plants overhead began growing down the walls. as the song ended, leaves came down around you, forming a cocoon around you. You frantically began casting glamours on yourself, changing the colour of your suit and hat, conjuring an expanse of silk and wrapping yourself in it. 

 

You cast a spell, causing more butterflies to pour forward, out of the cocoon. The leaves opened, dropping you, and the silk unravelled as you fell forward, slowly revealing you in your brightly coloured suit. The crowd gasped as you caught yourself at the end of the silk, kicking yourself up, hanging upside down close enough over the crowd’s heads that if you reached out, you could have touched one of their outstretched hands. You smiled, and the silk began to unwind, spinning you faster and faster ad growing shorter as it did. You let out a laugh, and let yourself swing outward, catching a vine that reached out for you and then swinging from them one by one, eventually setting foot on the stage. 

 

From there you performed tricks, and jokes, talking to people in the front row and doing simple, flashy parlour tricks and comedy. You asked for volunteers, pulled blooming flowers from behind ears, and summoned birds and butterflies from your hat at every turn. The crowd was delighted. 

 

Then your show was over, and the palace staff channeled the crowd away from your stage, and you sat on its edge, catching your breath. You lifted the glamour on your clothes, reverting them to their inconspicuous original colour, and adjusted your hat on your head. Sidus approached, eyeing the massive beanstalk centerstage. 

 

“That’ll take some cleaning up…” He said, squinting at the ceiling, still covered in greenery. You sniffed. 

 

“Yeah… sorry about that. I’ve still got juice if you want me to clean it up…”

 

“No! No. You’re under strict instructions not to exhaust yourself,” Sidus straightened up, and adjusted his mask. He offered you his hand. “In fact, I’m to take you to the ballroom. You’re free to enjoy the masquerade now,”

 

“Am I free to go home?” You asked, taking his hand and flashing a crooked smile. Sidus smiled back.

 

“I don’t know if anyone is that free tonight,” He said, and he led you to the ballroom. You arrived there and were instantly swarmed by dignitaries and admirers. It was overwhelming, and noisy. You looked around and made for the table where the refreshments were. You took a glass of wine and buried your face in it, humming and nodding at the people around you as they gushed about your performance. You started.

 

It was ice wine. You stared at the glass, at the frozen grape sunken at the bottom of the glass, and then you looked around. There were no familiar faces, even Sidus was gone, off to attend to something or other. You slipped away, wine glass in hand. You passed through a tapestry-hidden door and away, onto a veranda you had once met Julian on. 

 

You smiled at the memory, at how you had danced. You sipped your wine and leaned against the nearest marble pillar when you heard it, murmured conversation. 

 

“And you hired another magician for tonight’s performance… why?” 

 

It was a man’s voice, and he sounded irritated. You turned, catching sight of a pair of people not far off, only shielded by an arch covered in honeysuckle. They were close. A glint of gold caught your eye, and you froze solid.

 

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to, Gylbard. It would be a mistake,”

 

Gylbard, the stranger, let out a cold, humourless laugh. “Oh, Would it? I looked in on their performance. Overly flashy. Gaudy. And the butterflies? Cheesy. Overdone. Childish. I noticed something, though,”

 

Silence was thick in the air. “What?” Lucio asked. Gylbard clicked his tongue. 

 

“They looked a little like me, didn’t they? Shorter, but the colouring? The features- what I could see of them under that stupid butterfly mask, anyway… They looked a little like me,”

 

Lucio scoffed. You heard the click of an empty wine glass on the bannister. 

 

“No, Gylbard.  _ You _ look like  _ them _ ,”

 

Silence. It stretched. It snapped. 

 

“I’m leaving, Lucio,”

 

Lucio cleared his throat. “Are you going to finish that?”

 

There was the click of a glass being pushed into a metal hand and then footsteps. Lucio sighed, and turned, walking around the arch and lifting a glass to his lips just as you turned and made to run away. 

 

“... Trickster?” His voice cracked. He quickly cleared his throat. “That suit… looks good on you. I liked the colour you changed it to as well. You looked… breathtaking up there,”

 

You froze. “Ah…” You turned back to face him. “I didn’t mean to…”

 

“You heard all that, then?” Lucio said, seemingly unembarrassed. He set down the wine glass on the bannister and then looked back at you, all sharp features and sharp eyes. You swallowed nervously.

 

“Not all of it… just…”

 

“That I’ve been hiring magicians that look like you and fucking them?”

 

You laughed and looked at the ground, shaking your head. “Well. I didn’t hear that you were fucking him, but I’m not… surprised,”

 

Lucio was looking at you, tracing your features with his eyes like he was committing them to memory, like he had before. “Take your mask off. I want… I want to see your face,”

 

You smiled, walking backward, off the steps of the veranda. “Nothing I ever give you comes easily, Lucio. You know that. Come get me, if you really want it,”

 

His name, the taunt. His countenance broke. You bolted backward, away, over the lawn and toward the garden, slipping through it, hearing heavy footfalls behind you, gaining on you as you turned, bolting through archways and around neat rows of arborvitae, past a fountain and into a dark, secluded corner. You listened, and waited. You heard him stop, then the slow pace of footsteps drawing closer and closer. 

 

“You know, I’ve been looking for you,” He called, “Looking for you in every stupid, insipid soul that filters through this place. I’ve laid people out and called them your name and done so many things… but I can’t get you. I can’t find you anywhere. So if you think for a second…”

 

He rounded the corner, and you pressed back into the wall, breathless, heart racing. 

 

“If you think for one gods damned second that you’re getting away from me now, after an offer like that…” he growled, lunging forward, pressing into you, running his hands down your arms, over your body, grasping your hat and throwing it aside, his human hand fumbling with the knot of your mask for a moment before his clawed one pulled it away, and he was looking down at you with an unequaled heat, and want.

 

“Gods, it really is you…”

 

You smiled, making an odd gesture at your sides. “It’s me alright…”

 

“Let me kiss you,” Lucio said, as though it was a demand, despite the fact his voice made it into a plea in the air. You tilted your head. 

 

“As always, I seem to be holding all the cards,”

 

“Hold me instead,” He said, “There’s nothing on this blasted earth like you. You… You’re something entirely other. Hardly even human. You pierce my soul. You own me, my heart, you’re a thief, a sneak, you stole me and then you fucking  _ left… _ It broke me, trickster. I closed the coliseum. I fixed the flooded district. I opened a stupid orphanage for the stupid orphans and negotiated like, four dumbass peace treaties because peace was in those damn books you left at the palace-”

 

“Those were your books, Lucio,”

 

“Yes, well, I wasn’t going to read them, damn it! I did all this stupid crap because I thought it might make me the kind of man you might love, but… you still didn’t come back. And I hired these other magicians and I laid them out but none of them did what you did. None of them… made me think. None of them made me want to  _ do good _ . Be good. All it ever made me do was… Well, it didn’t even make me finish half the time. I just kept thinking of waking up with you gone, and I just… Couldn’t,”

 

“So… You can’t cum? That’s the problem?”

 

“You cursed my dick,”

 

You laughed, looking down at your feet, then back up at him. “I didn’t,”

 

“Not intentionally, but you did. You cursed me so that all I ever do is think about you and fucking you and kissing you and making you laugh,” He shook his head. “And you made it so that I actually talk to you about my  _ feelings _ . You cursed. My. Dick,”

 

“Sounds like an okay curse to me if it means you’re making the world a better place,”

 

“Okay, I don’t care about the world, I haven’t gotten off in like, a month, and last time I actually managed to finish it was with my hand and thinking about you,”

 

“I can help you with that if you want…” You breathed, bringing your hands forward and placing them on his waist. His eyes shot wide. 

 

“You what?”

 

“How about you and I go back to your room and do some curse breaking?” You asked, shooting him a mischievous smile. His knees half buckled. 

 

“I’m not going to make it to the room, let me fuck you here-  _ Oh gods _ , no, whatever you want, just touch me, please touch me,” He said, pressing back against you and burying his face in your hair, his human hand pulling away your cravat as his metallic one untucked your shirt and began playing with your buttons. You caught his throat in your hand and pulled his lips to yours, and he whined desperately, crushing into you and growing even more frantic in his movements, like a man starved. Next thing you knew you were pinned to the wall with your legs wrapped around him, your hands tangled in his hair, his tongue in your mouth. 

 

You moaned. 

 

At that he drew back, resting his forehead against yours. “I… I’m not a strong man…”

 

“You’re literally holding all my weight like it’s nothing,”

 

“I have a magic arm, but that’s not the kind of strong I’m talking about,” He took in a deep breath. “I can’t… lose you again. It’ll fuck me in the head for life. Please… Please tell me this is real. This is for real. That… That this time you’ll stay. I know offering you one thing or another… That money and jewels and power… it doesn’t appeal to you like it does other people. So… I’m just offering you what you already have. You. And me. All of me,”

 

“Sounds like a bargain,” You said. Lucio blinked. He hesitated.

 

“Wait… are you saying  _ yes? _ You’ll stay? You’ll really, really stay?”

 

“Yes. I’ll stay, you oaf, Lucio,”

 

“... Oh my gods this is the happiest day of my life. Call me an oaf again. No, wait, I’d rather kiss you, play with my hair more,” And he pressed his lips back to yours exuberantly, through your giggles and his dopey, lovestruck smile. 

 

You both wound up staying out in the gardens, holding hands and staring up at the stars. Lucio kept looking over at you, as though he needed to make sure that you weren’t going to just disappear. 

 

You weren’t. You were sure of it this time. And he’d be sure too, eventually. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> songs:
> 
> Lucio: Medicine, Gabbie Hanna  
> Cornerstone, Arctic Monkeys  
> Medusa, Kailee Morgue
> 
> Apprentice: Used, Wyvern Lingo  
> Past Lives, BØRNS  
> Siren, Kailee Morgue

**Author's Note:**

> songs!!!!:
> 
> Lucio's theme: Dazed & Confused, Ruel
> 
> Asra's Theme: Brand New Moves, Hey Violet
> 
> Julian's Theme: Like Lovers Do, Hey Violet
> 
> "Your" Themes: Knocking On Your Heart, Maggie Lindemann
> 
> Stuck, The Aces
> 
> Money Grabber, Fitz and The Tantrums


End file.
